THE BEEEDING OF THE ARCTIC FOX. 531 



goes about. Besides, they are curious and not timid. On an island 

 of Prince William Straits there is a farm where 50 or 60 adults are 

 fed on salmon and halibut. It is useless to offer them cod; they will 

 not touch it. They are there accustomed to seek their food in a little 

 house, which acts as a trap during the short period when their fur is 

 the finest— that is to say, from December 20 to about January 10. 



The arctic fox is abundant in the Pribylov Islands, or, rather, it 

 was formerly so, and at present efforts are making to restore the 

 abundance. On the island of St. George an American Government 

 agent, Mr. Judge, has devoted several years to this question and has 

 ascertained interesting facts. It is a rocky island, heaved up into a 

 chaos, where birds flock in great numbers to breed, and is particularly 

 suitable to the fox, if only his subsistence is insured for the winters, 

 for otherwise he will not remain, but will embark on the first ice 

 sheet which in spring comes near enough, and that will be the last 

 of him, whether he reaches some distant shore or not. In summer he 

 will remain quietly, for, in the first place, he can not do otherwise, 

 and then birds are plenty, and eggs too, as well as young seals whose 

 mothers have been killed and who have been left to starve. The 

 pelagic hunting of the fur seal has been rather advantageous to the 

 foxes because of the number of small seals which have perished and 

 furnished food. There are some 2,000 foxes on the island of St. 

 George. They fed upon lemmings {Leiimius nigrljpeH) until the latter 

 became well-nigh extinct. In winter they get their living on the 

 shore, and, curiously enough, live largely on sea urchins, of a species 

 of Strong yloccntrotus^ w^hich are found on the rocks that are left 

 uncovered at low tide. Thej^ also eat grass in winter, and worms, 

 which the}^ scratch out of the sand. The}' also swallow sea squirts and 

 carcasses of fish. But, on the whole, their living is precarious at that 

 season. 



Attempts have been made, perhaps not persevering enough, to intro- 

 duce rodents allied to the rabbit. The acclimatization of the spermo- 

 phile found at Unalaska has also been proposed. Preserved food has 

 been tried, such as linseed-meal biscuits. The foxes did not like it, 

 though they take it eagerly when it is flavored with seal oil. Mr. Judge 

 gave the foxes carcasses of seals, and these not being enough, he 

 finally used entire bodies, salted or frozen, digging "silos," where the 

 provisions were stored till they were needed. The foxes appreciated 

 this kindness only too much, for one day 60 or 70 of them got into the 

 silo, tore up and pulled out the seals, and feasted so that several of 

 them died of surfeit. Since the foxes do not like salt meat, the seals are 

 soaked in fresh water before being given to them. The seals are given 

 to the foxes when the tune of their capture approaches by every even- 

 ing leaving some bodies, not more than ten, at the place where the 

 traps are to be placed. At the proper time the traps are set. The 



